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Williams praises Ozzie's Sox contributions

Williams praises Ozzie's Sox contributions

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Ken Williams

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Ozzie Guillen is gone from the White Sox, but certainly not forgotten. And according to White Sox general manager Ken Williams, Guillen's positive contributions made over eight years as manager always should be held close by the organization and the fan base.

Williams talked to MLB.com about a text exchange he had with Guillen during this Spring Training in which he thanked the former manager for helping the White Sox achieve consistent success.

"I don't know if it was last week or the week before that that I sent him a message, a text, just thanking him for the hard work and expressed to him directly you know it saddens me that things worked out the way they did," Williams said. "But I thanked him for the hard work and all that we accomplished together and I wished him luck.

"He wrote back and thanked me for the opportunity to manage the team that he was most fond of. He loves the city and everything. It was a nice exchange."

All sides clearly have moved on since Guillen's departure to Florida, and Williams doesn't see a scenario where that peace will change. He also didn't look as his staying in Chicago and Guillen being let out of the final year of his White Sox contract as his personal victory in a power struggle.

"It was portrayed as some sort of power play, but I never felt that. It simply is untrue," Williams said. "I had no problem working with Ozzie [on] all baseball-related things. Some of the peripheral things, you know, I think probably anybody would have a little bit of an issue here and there.

"You won't hear anything negative come out of my mouth about Ozzie Guillen or anybody that was on the staff. I don't believe that there will be any, at least I hope that people can move on to the point where we can still appreciate all the things that were accomplished here."